I Was Always Curious Why My Mother Hated Her

Lisa returned to her childhood home to move her aging mother in with her — and to finally leave the past behind. But one mystery still haunted her: why had her mother hated their kind neighbor, Jeremy, so fiercely? While her mother packed upstairs, Lisa wandered into Jeremy’s now-abandoned house next door. There, she found a box labeled “For Lisa,” filled with old letters, photos — and the truth.Jeremy was her real father.

In a heartbreaking journal entry, he admitted he’d run away when her mother got pregnant. Wracked with guilt, he’d stayed close, leaving gifts like the teddy bear Lisa had cherished. Her mother’s anger wasn’t cruelty — it was heartbreak.Lisa returned to her mother with tears in her eyes, but said nothing. Some truths were too heavy to revisit. As they drove away from the house forever, she knew she was finally free — not just of the house, but of the questions that had lingered her whole life.